Much continues to be made of the recently announced and sad demise of the much-loved DDB brand. This isn’t the first time a global network has vanished in a puff of holding-company reorganisation. Many still mourn the loss of JWT and Y&R – once the mighty pillars of Madison Avenue.
But some say we should get over it. The world has moved on. The only people who really cared were those who worked there.
Yeah, about that.
Few clients have either the time or the interest to keep up with agency brands. For most, the business of agency courtship and commitment comes round every four years or so. In between, competing agency names are just background noise.
And yet, day after day, week after week, every agency – large or small – makes that noise. Announcing new campaigns, new clients, new awards. Many believe the greatest benefit of all this activity is the attraction of new business. Sometimes that’s true. But rarely. That doesn’t mean the effort is wasted.
The currency of agency businesses is still talent. With an average turnover of around 30% a year, a consistent, visible agency brand – even if it feels like an echo chamber to clients – can make you the destination of choice for the best people. That’s the real value of the noise: not the next client, but the next great hire.
Like all agencies, DDB lived through peaks and troughs, but for long stretches it was a lighthouse for strategic and creative talent. JWT was once known as the University of Advertising, and Y&R was equally legendary.
So, while the holding companies might be right that clients won’t care much about the death of DDB, agencies themselves should never forget that without great talent, they are just another office.
Independent agencies increasingly understand the importance of employer brand – and many of them seem to be thriving because of it.
People like Bill Bernbach, Leo Burnett, and David Ogilvy built corporate cultures and legacies that endured. What we should really mourn is not only the loss of DDB, but the loss of holding companies’ appreciation for corporate culture and creative philosophy – the very ideas that made agencies like DDB great and associated with some of the best ad campaigns the world has ever seen.